


Traust

by azurecorvus



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Anti-Hero Loki, Canon-Typical Violence, Drama, Explicit Language, M/M, Male Pronouns, Not Canon Compliant, Reader Has Powers, Reader-Insert, Slow Build, Slow Burn, anti-hero reader, just a dash of slice-of-life, just for the bits I tweek really, male reader - Freeform, sassy boyfriends, slight spoilers for Avengers: Inifity War and Endgame, title from a song
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-27
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:35:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22340392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/azurecorvus/pseuds/azurecorvus
Summary: After an unfortunate encounter with S.H.I.E.L.D. nearly a decade ago, you have managed to live well under their radar by passing as just another, average citizen in a small, remote town in the mountains of Northern California.All was well until one evening, a stranger literally crash lands into your life. The fact that this stranger happens to be the God of Mischief is only just a slight problem you now have to deal with.
Relationships: Loki (Marvel)/Male reader, Loki (Marvel)/Reader
Comments: 1
Kudos: 32





	Traust

**Author's Note:**

> Heads up, this is HEAVILY not canon compliant in terms of history because end of the day, I can do what I want with fiction. At the very least, just consider it an actual parallel universe where everything played out differently, multiple universe theory, ya know?
> 
> What exactly that all entails as for what would have happened in the movies, etc. will be revealed when applicable. But basically this operates off a "What if Loki didn't get himself killed by Thanos, the Avengers still managed to take him down, and now this is the world after the fact?" Also probably going to retcon a lot of deaths and other stuff because FUCK IT.

“Alright, who's ever out there, you better show yourself or scram because I am so not in the fucking mood right now!” you shouted into the dark forest that surrounded the tiny cottage you called home. “That is, unless you're a bear, in which case just do the scramming.” you more muttered to yourself as you lifted a flashlight to be level with your head and walked down from the back porch and to the tree's edge.

It had otherwise been a typical night in your little spot in the woods. You had just come from your shift at a local diner and bar, The Hanged Man, where you worked as a dishwasher. The drive home was long but otherwise uneventful, passing no one on the road. Your boss, the owner and manager of The Hanged Man, a surly, middle-aged woman by the name of Isabelle, (if you were to shorten her name, she insisted on just calling her “Izzy” as she hated “Bella”; sounded too old, she said), had allowed you to take home some of the sent back orders for your dinner. That was honestly the coolest thing about Izzy, she didn't like having perfectly good food go to waste, so anything that got sent back that truly wasn't completely botched was boxed and placed in a fridge for anyone to take home if they'd like completely free.

Anyway, you were just about to heat up your meal when a loud... _sound_ came from outside. It wasn't exactly a crash and it wasn't exactly an explosion, but it was also both those things at once with a strange hum beneath it all. At least that was the best way you could describe it to yourself. The other off-putting thing was the sudden burst of light that came with it. (Which obviously would rule out a bear but honestly, who knows these days?) So with that, you grabbed your heavy duty flashlight and went out to investigate.

The soft crunching sound of dried pine needles, bark, and whatever else littered the forest floor beneath your feet accompanied by your pulse pounding in your ears was all could hear for the moment. Not knowing where the light or the sound had originated from, you refrained from walking too deeply into the trees, instead opting to make a small sweep of the perimeter. As you were about to just shrug it all off and deciding not to get involved with whatever it all was, you could hear the faintest yet unmistakably sound of a pained groan to your left. With a resigned sigh, you point your flashlight in that direction and walk towards it.

It wasn't long before you'd come across a spot that looked like it was hit with a mini-tornado; debris from various trees splintered and broken, a light mist or smoke of sorts hung in the air as it rose from the ground. Shining the light around, you quickly spotted the epicenter of this little disaster. Covered in debris and also slightly smoldering like the rest of the area was the strangest looking man you had ever seen. Well, okay maybe not _the_ strangest, you had seen some things, been some places, but all things considering, it _was_ strange of him to be there and in such a manner.

What you can make out of the crumpled heap of a man was that he was nearly head-to-toe dressed in dark leather. “Nearly” as his head was completely uncovered, therefore leaving his long, dark hair in disarray and undoubtedly now full of twigs and pine needles. A sort of cape tangled about his body and yet he was the only thing present in the clearing. At least, nothing that would have noticeably propelled this stranger was within your sight. You can't tell if what you _could_ make out of his battered and bruised visage was from some previous altercation or the result of his arrival here in your spot of woods. As he had yet to moved or made any further noise, you naturally found a stick and proceeded in poking him in the side. Immediately he lets out groan.

“Could you please not do that?” he manages to wheeze into the dirt.

“Hey, you're not dead.” you state.

“I can't say that _I'm_ convinced.” he retorted, now attempting to sit himself up with a groan.

You politely lower your light as you watch him move stiffly, carefully avoiding his face so as not to blind him. You may have poked him with a stick just now but you have _some_ sense of common courtesy. He takes a moment to assess the damage to his person before proceeding to look up at you.

“Where am I?” he asks flatly, if just a little winded.

“Just outside Placerville, California.” you state. He only furrows his brows at you. “Essentially the bum fuck of nowhere.”

“I see.” He grimaces in what you were sure was disgust or perhaps pain, or perhaps both, as he goes to stand, but clearly whatever method of travel he had taken was now in turn taking its toll on him, as he clumsily stumbles back down to the ground.

“Need help there, buddy?” you offer. He glares at you in slight irritation.

“If you could.” he relents with an exasperated sigh, lifting up a hand.

After managing to sling an arm around your shoulders, you were able to prop the man up and walk him back to your little cottage. It was a bit of a fumble but the two of you were able to make it through the backdoor and into your kitchen.

“This is your home?” he asks simply, giving your kitchen a cursory glance but not looking particularly impressed.

“Yeah.” you answer, proceeding to help him walk to your tiny bathroom. “Wait here.” You sat him on the toilet and you walk to a linen closet.

“Here.” You toss some towels and a spare pair of dark grey sweat clothes onto the floor. “You can wash up and change into those, if you'd like.”

You quickly showed him how to work the shower. “I'm going to warm up some food. You can have some or not, up to you.” And with that, you shut him in and went back to the kitchen to do just that.

* * *

After about fifteen to twenty minutes had passed, you heard the bathroom door creak open, ( _“I should really oil those hinges.”_ ), followed by the slap of bare feet on your hardwood floors. Looking up from your reheated burger and fries dinner plate, you fully took in the appearance of your mysterious visitor.

The first thing you noticed about him was that he was incredibly pale. This made his black hair, now free from forest debris, stand out incredibly in contrast as it lay damp and slicked back, the ends curling and resting at his shoulders. He was observing you in turn as well and you took a moment to look take in his stern and angular features, noting that his piercing eyes appeared turquoise in your kitchen's artificial lighting. You didn't bother hiding the long swiping gaze you made as you inspected how your spare sweat clothes fitted him and noted that while perhaps they didn't necessarily suit his person overall, they otherwise seemed to fit him well enough. You also noted that we was holding his own clothing in a wadded bundle as he cleared his throat, raising an eyebrow, clearly not enjoying your not so subtle inspection of his person. You flash a grin and give him a playful wink. He rolled his eyes.

“You can set those on any of these chairs.” you gestured to three other chairs surrounding the small dining table as you stood up retrieving a plate from the toaster oven. “It's nothing fancy, but it's free.”

You plop the still fairly warm plate of a chicken club sandwich, complete with a side of fries, and then pull a plate of vegetables from the fridge that were obviously removed from the sandwich to avoid anymore wilting.

“Just have to reassemble it but it's fine.”

He had taken a seat in front of the plates, looking extremely unimpressed, and you thought perhaps he was going to push it away, but as you watched, his shoulders slump in defeat and began to slowly piece the sandwich back together.

For a moment, the two of you let the time pass in silence. After he had finished off the first half of the sandwich, you decide it was finally time you actually find out who this stranger in your home exactly was.

“Sooooo,” you drawled out after taking a sip from your glass. “Who are you?”

He paused a moment, placing the partially eaten second half of the sandwich back on the plate as he chewed slowly and deliberately, eyes searching you as his brow furrowed in confusion. You picked up your glass again, slightly unnerved by the intense stare.

“You haven't realized who I am?” he asked in true disbelief.

“I- Should I?” you asked in return, voice rising in pitch, giving him a further questioning look.

You could clearly see him clench his jaw in a manner that suggested he was mildly insulted by your ignorance.

“As grateful as I am for you hospitality, I do have to question your intelligence. Do you regularly just walk in strangers that have quite literally materialized onto your property before properly identifying them? Either you are completely isolated from the rest of this world, here in your little woods, or you are incredibly dense.” he paused. “Have you truly not seen my face before?”

“Wow, okay, _asshole_. You made your point.” you shoot back, it was now your turn to feel insulted.

You bit back your tongue before you said anything further and you gave him another hard look while taking a long sip from your glass just for additional effect, when it dawned on you: you _had_ seen his face before. Not too long ago, on the news, when the skies above New York were torn open and for a moment it seemed like the world as you knew it could end.

You sputtered into your glass.

“Holy shit! Are you fucking serious?” you said after you recovered. He raised an eyebrow at your outburst. “You're Loki?!”

“So you aren't completely oblivious.” he crossed his arms, still looking very much not impressed.

“Where the fuck have you been?! Are you on the run or something?” you pushed on.

“Something like that.” he was pushing the remnants of a few fries around his plate now, pointedly ignoring the first question.

You raised an eyebrow. “Okay... care to elaborate on that?”

“No.” he stated curtly.

You clicked your tongue. “Alright, fair enough, I suppose.”

He now gave you a perplexed look. “You aren't concerned?”

You heaved a heavy sigh.

“Look, I'll be honest with you, seeing how we're probably in the same boat here.” you leaned back in your chair.

Loki gave you a doubtful look.

“I'm not exactly... I'm not on the best terms with the general public myself.” you started. “I had a bit of a run in with S.H.I.E.L.D. a few years back. Now that I think about it, they were probably trying to recruit me to be one of your Avenger buddies.”

You chuckled. He did not look amused.

“They weren't exactly clear about it at the time. Anyway, I turned them down. Told them I didn't care too much for what they were selling and I guess that upset them a bit. One thing led to another and suddenly I'm a wanted man for no goddamn reason other than I just didn't want to join their stupid little club. Okay, maybe I hadn't been up to any good beforehand, that's what caught their attention to begin with and _maybe_ a whole city block or two got torn up in the process.” you paused to take another sip from your glass. “Still, never tried to enslave an entire planet but.” you simply shrugged.

Loki's face didn't betray any sort of thought or emotion as he listened to the synopsis of your brief encounter with S.H.I.E.L.D. Sure, there was more to the story than all that, but seeing as he wasn't sharing any of the details that led to his arrival here, you thought it was only fair to hold back the finer details.

“And just who are you exactly?” he finally asked, the look of unimpressed disbelief now visible on his features and in the tone of his voice.

You obliged and gave him your name.

“Obviously there's more to me than just a name but you'll forgive me if I don't show you my full hand just yet.” you forced a smile that suggested you were heading this game.

He seemed to understand and for a moment looked as though he was going to challenge you but in the next instant he just brushed it aside.

“I assume you're still wanted by S.H.I.E.L.D.?” he continued.

This made you shift a little uncomfortably. For a moment you panicked and the thought that he would use you as leverage for some kind of plea bargain or whatever against S.H.I.E.L.D. played out in your mind. And honestly, he really didn't owe you anything. Yeah, you did take him into your home but it's not like he was near death, just a little banged up and dirty. You were strong, sure, but you weren't exactly confident that you could take on a _god_ from literal myth and legend.

“Yeah, probably.” you said, trying to keep the uneasiness from your voice.

He appeared to be thinking something over.

“I propose this: you and I create a pact of sorts, one that is an equally beneficial arrangement.” He finally stated.

“Uh, okay... What exactly?”

“You agree to offer me asylum here until such time that I can leave this realm. In the mean time, I can help ensure that S.H.I.E.L.D. never discovers our location or actions. We continue to live in hiding and swear to not betray the other to their enemies, and seeing as we seem to share one in common, it would be in both our best interests that we hold to this agreement.”

“Did- did you just ask me if you could move in with me?” you asked, slightly taken aback.

“That is part of the deal, yes.” he answered, unfazed.

“Damn, dude, this isn't even the first date.” you flashed a sly grin, tongue sticking out between your teeth.

The expression he directed at you was the most unamused look he had produced yet.

You let out a playful chuckle.

“Sorry, I'm just messing with you. Yeah, sure, you can crash here.” You stood up from your seat, chuckling to yourself and quickly went about cleaning your dishes. “At some point though, I wanna hear how you literally landed yourself here and all that.”

You could hear him faintly hum in thought over the rush of water.

“Eventually, perhaps.” he finally returned to the now undoubtedly cold remains of the chicken club sandwich. “If I do, _you_ will have to _tell me_ what exactly about you peeked the interest of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

You turned back to see Loki flashing you his own sly, if not slightly unsettling, grin.

“Suppose that's fair.” you replied.

“Now, as far as sleeping arrangements go,” you continued, drying off a plate. “I don't have a spare bed but the couch is large enough and I have some spare blankets and pillows you can use.”

Loki's face fell again into an expression of obvious disapproval.

“Very well,” was his clipped response, having resigned himself to the circumstances he had quite literally landed himself in.


End file.
